We left Ohio on a flight to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday January 25, 2022. Stayed in Fort Lauderdale for 1 night, as the ferry ride to Bimini left at 8am sharp on Wednesday morning. We enjoyed 5 days on the beautiful island of Bimini in total. As always, our dive family continues to make fantastic trips and memories for us. We enjoyed the the ferry ride over and enjoyed Wednesday late afternoon and evening just hanging around the hotel and dive shop and restaurants. We saw dozens of BULL SHARKS, yes I said that correctly, BULL SHARKS just swimming next to the dock. I couldn't believe that is what they were, and then we found out there could be Bulls out on our dive the next morning. WHAT?!?!?!? This scared Julie and I so much, that we almost cancelled our trip out on Thursday morning. Then we were told that on occasion bulls and tigers are both out on the Hammer dives, but they've never had anyone get hurt AND it was considered lucky if they did show up. As reluctant as we still were, we decided to do this once in a lifetime dive.
On Thursday morning, we went out on the boat, to do a Hammerhead dive. WOW, JUST WOW!!!! What a fantastic dive!!! I would so go again and again! To see the hammers in their own environment and literally swim right next to us, or just over our heads. We could literally just reach out and touch them, but we were strictly told not to, even if we got the urge. There were dozens of nurse sharks down there as well, wanting to be fed. Too many nurse sharks though can be detrimental for the Hammers to come in with us, as too much chaos from the nurses, will make the Hammers not want to come in. Overall they were fine. The Hammer dive went for 2 hours, and we could leave whenever we wanted, exchange air tanks and head back down if we wanted. Julie was down there for just about the full 2 hours. I had about an hours dive. WHICH WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING DIVES EVER!! Definitely in the top 3 of my favorite dives. It was a pretty shallow dive, about 25 feet deep.
We were supposed to have another Hammer dive on Friday, but when we left (on a much smaller boat) the water just wasn't as smooth as the day before. We were out in the boat, waiting for the hammers to arrive, but there weren't any, so we decided after waiting for 2.5 hours, to head over to another dive site and see some corrals. There were black tip sharks out on that dive. Again the water was so choppy and I really didn't feel comfortable going out (especially since Stuart wasn't with me, as my dive buddy). As the boat/dive crew was explaining to us about the reef and the sharks, they said the black tip sharks won't bother you (as in bite), but just make sure you don't wail your arms/legs around, then they might think you're bait. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? Again, I was at the point that I was a bit scared to go in because of the choppy water and the sharks swimming all around the boat, and also they said when we come back up to get onto the boat with your fins (again don't be flailing your feet about). So these final words, and I was scared again. It is hard enough for me to get into a boat without my fins, now they want me to keep them on as I'm climbing up the stairs? Again, I felt uneasy about the dive, but overall wanted to experience another awesome dive with sharks. So I put my mask on and jumped in. All good. Deflated my BCD and tried to descend. I could see about 10 or so black tips swimming all around the boat and under me. I still had a hold of the line, and I could see Chalk and Scott already down on the bottom (only about 15 feet below me - which was another shallow dive). Trying to descend I was looking at my watch and it seemed I was about 10 feet under. Scott and Chalk seemed right under me, but for some reason I wasn't going down anymore. I looked up and I was still attached to the boat line. My GoPro was tangled all around the line. I couldn't get it off. Now I am panicking. Something that has NEVER happened to me before on a dive. I tried calming down and getting the GoPro untangled, but I couldn't. I surfaced, and by that point I was breathing so fast and hard, that even with my regulator in my mouth, I was taking in water. I was panicking so much and I couldn't calm down. I literally thought I was going to die. Then I saw Trevor. He asked if I was alright, I said no. I couldn't get a hold of my breathing to calm down. He saw the GoPro tangled, so he untangled it for me. He tried helping me, but by this time I was at the ladder trying to get up, and couldn't . The 2 dive masters were there trying to help me up, but with all the weights in my BCD and a full air tank, they couldn't help me up. They tried taking my BCD and tank off of me in the water, but I was panicking so bad, I couldn't help them in any way. I kept thinking "the sharks are all around me, they will think my feet are bait". I was freaking out and the water was so choppy it was flailing me up against the boat and ladder. HORRIBLE!!! The guys were finally able to get my BCD and tnak off of my back, then we tried for my fins. That took a long time as well. The choppy water and waves were not making this easy at all. After about 20 attempts (it seems) I was free and clear to climb the ladder. Which I did. As soon as I made it onto the boat, I tried to catch my breath. That was one of the most scariest moments of my life. That whopping 20 minutes felt like more than an hour of being in the chopping, black tip shark infested water. Finally I got to my seat. Dax still hadn't been in the water yet, and I honestly could not believe that Ben and Julie were alright with him going in. He is only 10 years old and all about 70 pounds MAYBE!! I was scared for him! He jumped in and immediately wanted back in the boat. I could see the fear in Julie's eyes, scared for her son and herself. Everyone did not do well. The boat crew should have NEVER allowed us to go into that water. They said they felt bad that we didn't get to do our 2nd hammerhead shark dive. We said that's alright. We were out in that boat all day, probably a good 5 hours. I enjoyed that boat ride so much. Out there with friends, the warm sun on me, and the coolest boat ride ever - for me anyway! LOL Chalk, Scott, Matt, and Dax were all puking their heads out the side of the boat, chumming for the nurse sharks. LOL As much fun as I was having on the boat ride itself, all those big guys (and little Dax) were regretting that whole time out on the water in the choppy water. For me, it was just the 20 minutes that I couldn't get a hold of my panicked nature, and literally thought I would die right there. After talking with Julie we wanted to do a cage dive with the bull sharks. So we asked if we could do that instead of that 2nd hammer dive? They said yes, they would do that for us.
On Saturday morning, we all went for a cage dive with the BULL SHARKS!! Yes, something else we thought we'd never do. Matt/Trevor, Dax/Ben, me/Julie all did our cage dives as pairs. That was another wonderful dive, something I never ever thought I'd ever do. Saturday afternoon we went and did some Island shopping in our little golf carts. It was fun riding around the island and stopping to eat lunch. Stuart and I went to Stuart's Conch Stand for lunch, which was another amazing meal and view of the ocean. Saturday night we had some of the best pizza!
Sunday afternoon about 3pm we set off on the ferry back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Spent the night in Fort Lauderdale again, then our flight back to Columbus left at 9:40am on Monday January 31st. What a FANTASTIC trip. Another great dive in the dive book with the Hammerhead Sharks, Nurse Sharks, and Bull Sharks. Who would have ever thought? I've been afraid of sharks my whole life, thanks to the movie Jaws. But now as scuba divers, sharks are one of the animals that most divers love to see and dive with.
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